These are the two most common scenarios where you've either never had private health insurance before, or you've upgraded your level of cover when you've joined Police Health. 

If you've never had private health insurance before and the independent appointed medical practitioner decides your condition is pre-existing, you’ll need to serve the full 12-month waiting period before you can claim that service or treatment. 

If you've upgraded your level of cover, a waiting period will apply to the upgraded benefits. 

During that waiting period, if you're admitted to hospital for a treatment related to the upgrade, you may be covered at your previous level cof cover, which can include an excess if your old policy had one. 

You also can’t claim after the waiting period has ended for any treatment you received during the waiting period. However, once you've served your waiting period, you can claim benefits for eligible treatment going forward (subject to the terms and conditions of your policy and other requirements). 

Read more information on our ‘Pre-existing conditions’ page.